Crime in Hawaii 2008 (Annual)

August 25, 2009 – Hawaii’s Index Crime* rate decreased in 2008, down 12.7% from the rate reported for 2007.

A total of 49,454 Index Crimes were reported statewide in 2008, yielding a rate of 3,839 offenses per 100,000 resident population. The violent Index Crime rate in Hawaii decreased 1.4% in 2008, and the property Index Crime rate decreased 13.4%. Hawaii’s total and property Index Crime rates in 2008 were, respectively, 20.6% and 22.5% below the rates reported a decade earlier (1999). However, the violent Index Crime rate increased 15.7% over the course of the decade.

Other highlights of Crime in Hawaii 2008 include the following:

In the State of Hawaii in 2008, the rate of reported offenses for the violent Index Crimes of forcible rape and robbery decreased 4.1%, and 3.7%, respectively, while murder and aggravated assault rates rose 5.3%, and 0.4%, respectively. There were 3,510 violent Index Crimes reported in the State of Hawaii in 2008, representing a rate of 272.5 offenses per 100,000 residents.

Two of the three property Index Crimes decreased in rate in the State of Hawaii during 2008: larceny-theft, 16.5%; and motor vehicle theft, 18.9%. The burglary rate increased 3.1%. The State of Hawaii’s property Index Crime rate in 2008 was 3,567 offenses per 100,000 residents.

The overall rate for index and part II offenses decreased 5.1% in 2008.

Based on the proportion of arrests (plus cases closed by “exceptional means”) to reported offenses, the total clearance rate for reported Index Crimes increased from 13.4% in 2007 to 14.5% in 2008.

Adult arrests comprised 69.1% of all Index Crime arrests in 2008; juvenile arrests accounted for 30.9%. Crime in Hawaii 2008 also provides state and county data on the gender and race/ethnicity of arrestees.

The City & County of Honolulu’s total Index Crime rate decreased 13.6% in 2008, reaching its lowest point on record since the start of statewide data collection in 1975. The City & County of Honolulu’s violent crime rate decreased 1.4% in 2008 and the property crime rate fell 14.5%.

The total Index Crime rate in Maui County decreased 12.9% in 2008, the violent crime rate decreased 10.0%, and the property crime rate dropped 13.0%. In 2008, Maui County reported the highest total Index and property crime rates, and the lowest violent crime rate, in the State of Hawaii.

Of the 3,147 murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults reported statewide during 2008, 48.5% were committed using strongarm weapons (i.e., hands, fists, and feet); 24.8% with “other” or unknown weapons; 16.9% with knives or other edged weapons; and 9.8% with firearms.

Over $85 million in property value was reported stolen in the State of Hawaii during 2008, down 10.1% from the figure reported for 2007. Of the total value stolen in 2008, 28.5% was recovered, down slightly from the 28.6% recovered in 2007.

In 2008, 337 assaults on Hawaii’s police officers were recorded (a rate of 11.2 assaults per 100 officers). Crime in Hawaii 2008 also provides data on the time of day, type of assignment, and the weapons used in assaults against police officers.

On October 31, 2008, a total of 2,997 police officers and 798 civilians were employed by the four county police departments, denoting a 3.3% increase in both officers and civilians from the figures reported for October 31, 2007.